The present invention relates to an apparatus for corneal surgery. In particular, it relates to an apparatus comprising a chassis, apt to be placed onto the eyeball for the centration of said apparatus with respect to the eyeball.
Corneal surgery operations envisage the caging of the cornea, and the actuation of a surgical device apt to operate thereon.
In particular, corneal transplant surgery operations require carrying out a cutting onto the patient""s damaged cornea, in order to remove a button therefrom. Thus, a so-called  less than  less than bed greater than  greater than  apt to receive a matching donor corneal portion is obtained. The donor portion is placed within the bed itself and sutured to the walls thereof. Presently, said removal of a button from the patient""s cornea is carried out by a substantially punch-shaped surgical cutter, usually hand-actuated by a surgeon. Such removal generally concerns the entire corneal thickness, even for mere superficial lesions.
Recently, the introduction in the ophthalmologic field of the excimer laser, which vaporises tissues by breaking their molecular bonds, has allowed to improve the accuracy of corneal surgery techniques, and in particular of the so-called lamellar corneal surgery. According to these latter ones, the surgeon operates only on a layer of the damaged cornea, rather than over the entire depth thereof.
In particular, the excimer laser enables an accurate sculpturing the donated corneal portion, in order to better adapt it to the type and depth of the patient""s corneal lesion, as well as to precisely calculate the thickness of the bed for housing such donated portion, removing extremely regular corneal layers.
The above-described surgical instruments and the related surgical techniques have several relevant drawbacks.
The main drawback lies in the fact that the instruments used to date, being hand-actuated, allow to obtain only a reduced surgical accuracy.
Therefore, in corneal transplant surgery the housing of the donated corneal portion within the related bed is not optimal, and the advantages potentially associated with the use of the excimer laser are not fully exploited.
The technical problem underlying the present invention is that of providing an apparatus for corneal surgery allowing to overcome the drawbacks hereto mentioned with reference to the known art.
This problem is solved by an apparatus for corneal surgery, comprising:
a chassis, apt to be placed onto the eyeball for centrating said apparatus with respect to the eyeball;
at least one surgical device, apt to operate onto corneal tissue, insertable in said apparatus;
surgical device positioning means, movable with respect to said chassis, apt to be handled by a user for bringing said at least one surgical device in an operative position; and
surgical device moving means, also movable with respect to said chassis, apt to be handled by the user for actuating said at least one surgical device, in said operative position, according to a pre-set actuating path.
The present invention also provides a surgical method for performing a corneal transplant, comprising the steps of:
forming a bed of a desired thickness into the patient""s cornea;
penetrating the side wall of said bed for a desired extension by at least one cutting tool, according to a penetration direction transverse to an eyeball axis;
cutting an incision, by said cutting tool, of a substantially circular profile so that a flap of corneal tissue is obtained, a pocket being defined between said flap and the underlying cornea; and
resting a corneal portion to be transplanted into said bed, so that said flap partially overlaps said corneal portion.
The present invention provides several relevant advantages. The main advantage lies in the fact that in the apparatus of the invention specific means are provided for positioning the surgical device and for actuating it, which allow to carry out extremely accurate operations.